Friday, July 22, 2011

Apple Juice - NOW WITH ADDED ARSENIC!

Arsenic may not be the ingredient you expect in your kid’s apple juice, but recent findings suggest it could be on the table. It turns out that non-organic apple juice may have dangerous levels of arsenic.

While Food and Water Watch did not speculate on the source of the arsenic contamination, but there is a likely culprit. It turns out that some pesticides contain arsenic and other heavy metals. Apparently, in the breakdown of these chemicals, some of the arsenic can be absorbed by the apple tree and end up in the fruit... and then in your juice. Not exactly the ingredients you want to be feeding your toddler, is it?

This release comes just on the heels of Food and Water Watch’s report titled “A Decade of Dangerous Food Imports from China”. In our previous posts, we have discussed the importance of buying and consuming organic foods that are from sources you trust. Organic foods are restricted from using almost all synthetic pesticides, making them a safer choice. Because growers try to reduce blemishes on their fruits, they use more pesticides than in most other crops. Apples made it onto the top of this year’s EWG list of most pesticide laden foods. As with any health issue, it’s what you don’t know that could hurt you.

-----

Researched and written by Dr. Rebecca Malamed, M.D. with assistance from Mr. Malcolm Potter.